wrath of the pulpit. One preacher of 1160 goes so far as to call smart clothing ‘the Devil's mousetrap;’ yellow raiment and blanchet (a way of whitening the skin) seem to have been reckoned the most dangerous of snares to womankind, and therefore also to mankind.[1] In the Essex Homilies an onslaught is made upon the Priest's wife and her dress; we hear of ‘hire chemise smal and hwit, hire mentel grene, hire nap of mazere.’[2] The Ancren Riwle does not dwell on this topic of dress so much as might have been expected; only a few French articles are there mentioned. A little later, the high-bred dames are thus assailed:
Þeos prude levedies
Þat luvyeþ drywories
And brekeþ spusynge,
For heore lecherye,
Nulleþ here sermonye
Of none gode þinge.[3]
In the days of Edward I., we find scores of French words, bearing on ladies' way of life, employed by our writers. Many were the articles of luxury that came from abroad; commerce was binding the nations of Christendom together. The English chapman and monger now withdrew into low life, making way for the more gentlemanly foreigner, the marchand. Half of our trades bear French names; simple hues like red and blue do well enough for the common folk, but our higher classes must have a greater range of choice; hence come the foreign scarlet, vermilion, orange, and others.
